Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club Celebrates Grand Opening

$1 billion dollar infusion into resort

By Brian Weis

One of the most prestigious golf courses in the Dominican Republic has recently reopened after a major renovation project.

Discovery Land Company's Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club recently underwent a significant renovation by legendary golf designer Rees Jones, who redesigned the golf course that was originally designed and built by his father, Robert Trent Jones.

The newly redesigned Rees Jones course has been rerouted and regrassed. The course boasts 10 ocean lined holes - the most of any course in the western hemisphere.

The changes include regrassing the entire course with Pure Dynasty Paspalum, bringing in Maryland bright white sand for the bunkers; adding 55 acres of tropical landscaping; sand-capping all the fairways for better drainage and moving several tee boxes closer to the coastline for more dramatic views and playing angles.

The project also created a new practice facility, while adding three "comfort stations" along the course, including the Las Brasas golf barbecue restaurant, the Point, a pizza and bar behind the fourth green; and Caverna Casamigos, which will open on the back nine in 2019.

All 18 holes have ocean views, with 10 direct oceanfront cliff holes.

The north coast of the Dominican Republic now has one of the best golf courses in the Caribbean.

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the Publisher of GolfTrips.com, a network of golf travel and directory sites including GolfWisconsin.com, GolfMichigan.com, ArizonaGolfer.com, GolfAlabama.com, etc. Professionally, Brian is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA) and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG). In 2016, Brian won The Shaheen Cup, an award given to a golf travel writer by his peers.

All of his life, Brian has been around the game of golf. As a youngster, Brian competed at all levels in junior and high school golf. Brian had a zero chance for a college golf scholarship, so he worked on the grounds crew at West Bend Country Club to pay for his University of Wisconsin education. In his adult years, his passion for the game collided with his entrepreneurial spirit and in 2004 launched GolfWisconsin.com. In 2007, the idea for a network of local golf directory sites formed and GolfTrips.com was born. Today, the network consists of a site in all 50 states supported by national sites like GolfTrips.com, GolfGuide.com and GolfPackages.com. It is an understatement to say, Brian is passionate about promoting golf and golf travel on a local, regional, national and international level.

On the golf course, Brian is known as a fierce weekend warrior that fluctuates between a 5-9 handicap. With a soft fade, known as "The Weis Slice", and booming 300+ drives, he can blast it out of bounds with the best of them.